In 1993, the Progressive Conservative government of Donald Cameron introduced new commercial licence plates to the province that state, in red letters, “Nova Scotia. Open For Business.” It may be time for the NDP government to revisit that message.

Last week, Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker made a clear choice about the kind of business Nova Scotia really supports. Rather than defend the rights and interests of a Nova Scotian family business, he sided instead with DDV Gold, a subsidiary of Australian company Atlantic Gold, granting the mining company vesting orders and thus ownership of 14 parcels of land in Moose River Gold Mines.

Some of that belongs — or rather belonged — to the Higgins family that had refused to sell any land, pointing out that they run a successful and sustainable business (providing five full-time jobs and 25 seasonal ones) producing Christmas trees on land that has been in the family for generations.

So perhaps the government of Darrell Dexter might consider a more accurate message for the commercial licence plates. Maybe something like “Nova Scotia. Open for Foreign Destructive Extractive Business.” While they’re at it, perhaps they could update our provincial slogan. Instead of “Come to Life,” how about “Come to Help Yourselves to Our Land and Resources”?

The decision to expropriate the Higgins land, Minister Parker said, was “difficult” but he was “confident it best serves the public interest.” He said the Touquoy gold mine in Moose River will create about 150 jobs during operations, 300 during construction. Yet DDV Gold’s own Focus Report speaks of just 200 jobs during construction.

The minister also said Nova Scotians will see benefits through taxes and royalties. But the company will enjoy a tax holiday on profits until it recovers 110 per cent of its initial investment. And the company’s Focus Report says the total royalties the province will receive on the estimated $700 million of gold output over the mine’s life will amount to perhaps $6 million — which, to put things in perspective, is a paltry sum that could barely pave eight kilometres of road in Nova Scotia.

But Nova Scotians are used to big promises about the proposed benefits of this or that big industrial project, which are almost never legally binding and can be forgotten the minute a company faces financial problems. As we’ve learned the hard way, big promises are rarely worth the hot air used to make them. Nova Scotian taxpayers have a long record of paying the bills for companies in the so-called “private” sector and cleaning up the toxic messes they leave behind them.

None of the project’s cheerleaders — not the government, not the company and not the Mining Association — is being up front with the people of this province about the immense risks of open pit gold mines like the one planned for Moose River.

A few years ago, I spent a day touring an open pit gold mine in Mali in West Africa and came away with a horror of such hell holes. They are immense craters, created by blasting vast quantities of rock out of the earth with explosives. The waste rock is piled in small mountains; and in Nova Scotia, it is likely to be laced with and leaking arsenic. Open pit mines use vast quantities of fresh water, and toxic waste has to be stored and treated in massive tailings ponds.

And to extract the gold — 1.6 grams from one ton of rock — the company will use large quantities of cyanide. Once a week, about 12 tons of this poison will be transported by truck from the train station in Truro, over highways 102 and 224, and then down the Moose River Road.

A local group opposed to the mine, Eastern Shore Forest Watch, worries that any accident that caused the mine to close — and accidents and spills are not uncommon in open pit gold mines — would “vapourize the company’s line of credit.” Nova Scotians would once again find themselves stuck paying for a catastrophic clean-up.

DDV Gold is already looking at another gold mining project on Cochrane Hill, about 80 kilometres from its newly acquired land holdings in Moose River; and the CEO of the parent company, Atlantic Gold, says his company is exploring the length and breadth of the province for more gold deposits that he is sure are there for the taking.

And that, of course, will mean seeking the title to the land to get at them. Woodlot owners, farmers and other landowners in Nova Scotia, brace yourselves. Nova Scotia, it seems, is open for gold digging.

Joan Baxter is a Nova Scotian journalist, development researcher and writer, and award-winning author.

About the Author

Comments(37)

Great article Joan! Keep digging! (no pun intended) I'm sure you'll discover a lot more about the wheelings and dealings on this project. It's like I have been saying all along, this just goes to prove your property deed is a useless piece of paper. Expropriating land for highways or highway access is one thing. To do it for the sake of big business greed, that's entirely different.

So the government says taking private property and gives it to foreign interests is good for Nova Scotians, for a pie in the sky gold mine.
This is a company that hasn't given the same story twice, first it was 350 employees to start, than it was 450 employees to start, now its 200 employees to be reduced to 100 employees, how many of these 100 will be Nova Scotians and how many of these employees will be imported mine employees?
As for the mess they will leave, they will do no mining but will strip mine the land and leave the usual moonscape mess a strip mine always leaves. In a few years(maybe)they will declare the deposits are not as lucrative as first thought and shut it down to wait for better market prices. In the mean time the government will give them tax breaks, employee rebates and NSP will supply a reduced power rate that the taxpayer will have to subsidize. This is good for Nova Scotian economy???

It's not that I'm against NS growing its economy. It's the principle regarding the ownership of ones property. I don't care if the Higgins paid $20 for their total acreage 150 years ago (or 50 years ago for that matter), they should be the ones to determine how "their" land is used. If there is a condemned building on the land, yes tell them it has to be torn down, but if they don't want to sell the land, they shouldn't be told they have to. If the NS government wants to use crown land (do they still call it that?), then give DDV or Atlantic Gold some of the land they bought from Bowater.

Maybe you havent been keeping up with current events. The rural Nova Scotia economy is in a death spiral and activists like you and Baxter want to put a stake through its heart. So many red herrings in this article it is hard to choose one... Noxious chemicals..EVERY industry uses them. Holes are dug..so what? The land is always reclaimed by law. Holes are also dug for foundations in the city and activists aren't complaining. The mine is about the size of a Wal-mart parking lot, and has about the same ecological footprint. But activists want to get rid of Wal-marts as well. Pretty soon the only jobs available in rural Nova Scotia will be selling vegetables by the roadside. By the way Cleve Higgins the "christmas tree farmer" is in reality a long time anti-mining activist. His background in activism has been hidden by the media. Read this...http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2009/11/exploitation_and_activism/

A nicely-written piece. This is a decision that doesn't 'sit right' with many of us. As a homeowner the thought of one's property being expropriated to create a huge eyesore strikes at the heart of our values. To invest time, money, sweat, tears into a home and business over several generations as well as building family memories only to have them cast aside for an extra-Provincial company must be gut-wrenching.
Our Provincial government - past and present - have a history of being so keen to grow the commercial sector that they invest in companies that take the financial incentive (land in this case, payroll rebates in others), set up shop for a handful of years and then bail. Whether this happens in this case remains to be seen. Either way, rather than giving the homeowner whatever sum of money the Expropriation Act requires, a fairer approach would be to require relocation of the business (assets, relocation option for employees etc) to another suitable location. Expensive yes, but if it's really econmomically viable to process a ton of rock to extract 1.6g of gold then surely a drop in the ocean in the business plan.

What doesn't sit right with many others is the opposition of people in Nova Scotia to industries they know nothing about and just about anything that will help the economic state of the province. These people aren't losing their home or their business. A previous article stated that DDV wanted 3 hectares of their 150 which they offered $300,000 for. The article also stated that the piece of land in question is used for equipment storage and not part of the growth operation so they could easily have taken the $300,000 and relocated the equipment. This mine will create a few hundred, high paying jobs in the area...much more than the lucrative Christmas tree business and if you know anything about mining (which i don't think most of the posters here do), nobody does it better, safer, cleaner or more efficiently than the Australians. 5 years is a very conservative estimate on the life of the mine. It is more likely to be closer to 10 years or more. It will not be an eye sore as a pit this size you wouldn't even see unless you were flying over it or looking for it. At the end of the mines life, the pit will be filled and the land restored to the state it was before the mine was built (by law) at which time the Higgins would get their land back and could move their equipment again if it means so much to them. The province will get much more than 6 million in royalties. We will also get high paying jobs which will create more tax revenue, corporate income tax and a mine service industry which will create even more jobs.

This story is the first I have heard on this subject since the original story re the Higgins land being considered for expropriation.
Why has this not been reported ? This is a major story and to think the government chose to hide it is no surprise considering the few benefits to the people of NS. It appears no one's land is safe in this province and the present government will do anything for a buck. I will be so very happy when the next election comes around to vote these clowns out before we have nothing left to call our own.

We all want Nova Scotia to prosper and catch up with the rest of Canada for economic development. This also means that we have to take some responsible financial and development risks.

It must be difficult for a governing party, being Federal, Provincial or Municipal to entertain economic development with investors when out headlines are often read as: No to wind power, no to fish farming, no to expansion of natural gas, no to rock mining, no to gold mining, no to expand oil drilling, no to responsible fishing programs, no to deep water drilling etc... and provide the residents of our Province with all the amenities we want as a modern society.

Every body else is finding a practical way to move ahead with economic development, what is wrong with us Nova Scotians ? I think the time has come for us to start supporting our leaders and trust them to want what is best for us. On the other hand, these leaders must show confidence and act responsibly in ensuring the economic returns of supporting development and the use of our resources to best benefit our economy and social infrastructure.

Trust our leders to want what is best for us? Assuming of course they aren't selling out your land/mineral rights only for a future paid position on the Board of Directors of these "economic opportunities". Heavens - politicians don't do that. I must stop being so suspicious!

"A few years ago, I spent a day touring an open pit gold mine in Mali in West Africa and came away with a horror of such hell holes."

that you have one whole days experience with open pit mines. Comparing the mining and environmental regulations in a third world African nation to those in Nova Scotia are disingenous at best and certainly not very upfront.

I find it very offensive when someone owns land in this Province and it can be "Taken" for the greater "Good". So we will see 6 million dollars, hardly an amount worthy of stealing someones land. They have paid taxes on this land for 100 plus years and want to keep something which by all appearances they own. Maybe if the Government made Nova Scotia a good place to do business for something other than Government sponsored work which still requires massive handouts we would not have to steal someone's land for the very few business's that come just for the resources and leave when they are depleted. Maybe I can stop paying property taxes as it appears I do not truly own my home and it can be taken if the Province feels someone else deserves it more than me.

Being familiar with the story...and yes, this has been extensively covered with a radio broadcast yesterday with Mr. Higgins and various biased articles by CH, i'd like to say the following. While unfortunate that expropriation was the end result, this is a 8 acre piece of scrub land where NO xmas trees are being grown and no-one lives. It is part of thousands of acres owned by the Higgins, where I do understand they have a viable operation; just on this particular piece. The market value of the piece in question, would be in the neighborhood of a $1000. They were offered $300,000!!! 49 of 50 land owners over the mine were HAPPY to sell at inflated land values. This piece of land cannot stop 200 high paying jobs, royalties, economic spinoffs, and yes profit for a company that has already invested millions into NS.

I understand this has sentimental value, beyond what the gold company was willing to pay. The cold hard reality is that a viable gold mine is a needle in a haystack, with huge economic benefits to the local and broader economies where they are operated. This is why the land is being expropriated....a decision i fully support.

If this mine goes ahead and there is a terrible environmental wasteland left behind once the Australians have taken out the minerals in a few years, will you be so supportive? Can your conscience take it? Does it even matter to you? By the way, where do you live?

If what you say is the truth, then why has this information not come to light before now. The government has not stepped forward with any reasonable explanation re their side of the story, and I would like to see where it has been, as you say, "extensively covered".

This land access issue for the gold company has been ongoing for years. There has been at least 2 stories within the last month in the Chronicle Herald. It is only now 'news worthy' as the expropriation is finally happening. A CBC interview (20min or so) had Mr. Higgins on air for the entire interview, who discussed his stance, and took questions from various callers. The minister called in to explain the Gov rationale. The gist is he visited the site in question, at least a few times, where we stated NO commercial activity was taking place. There are no records of tree production (Natural Resources Office) from this parcel for years and years. Thus, he is not picking one industry over another, and no employees of the tree farmer are losing jobs. The higgins could buy up half the eastern shore with the price offered for the piece of scrub land in question.

Mr. Higgins has a well known bias against mining. This is a ideological fight he has taken against the Gov and the Company....which he as a land owner has every right to do. However, I'm not willing to support him when so much is at stake for Nova Scotians. This will be an expensive fight for Higgins, one I think and hope he has little chance of winning.

Short of assassinations, how to we get these people out of office?
By the time we replace this provisional Dexter government, there may not be enough, locally owned, Nova Scotia left to save.
I've suggested expropriating NSPI's assets, to both Darrell Dexter and Charlie Parker, but they insist they know better. They sure don't mind robbing the little guy though.
Too bad for the Higgins family Christmas tree farm. Too bad for their business and its employees. Too bad for Nova Scotia.

The truth is you'll vote for the NDP yourself, or you'll vote for one of the other parties that so sickened the voters last time, that a great number of them decided to give the NDP a try.
If ever I vote NDP in Nova Scotia again, it will be after Dexter has been replaced as leader. And even then I'll do a lot of soul searching first.

A lot of people are slamming the "big bad dirty international mining company" who have bullied the poor small NS family business and have caused harm to their business. Do you not realize that the Higgins family business CUTS...DOWN...TREES(just not on this parcel they lost)! Any clear cutting on the THOUSANDS of acres they own over the last few decades?? How does that compare with the environmental footprint of a typical mine that is smaller then the area used by the Halifax Shopping Centre?

If the decision had gone against DDV we would have seen a disastrous exit from the province of the entire mining and exploration industry(and all the money they spend in rural NS), which has been pointed out could develeop into a multi-billion dollar economic engine for this province!

well, if you have any land that's sitting on any precious mineral deposits, then be ready to cough it up and relocate. There are things more valuable at stake here, possibly things you just wouldn't understand.

All of the other Provinces and Countries benefit in so many ways from their commodities , why are we soooo behind the times. NS has them, many of them. Why do our people and Government choose to keep us so economically strapt ? Our Govt. always funds these stupid Call Centres, that come and go, wood mills that never have a chance because the market is in despair. Lets wake up and market/extract our rich minerals/gases/oil and go forward. The maritimes have been going backwards for years economically, and the government requires a new young face to lead this provinnce finally into self-sustainable, economically rich, and get rid of our "poor unwealthy" culture label from our counterparts across this country. Be stiffer on NS Royalties from these firms wishing to do business here and MAN UP NS Government and quit being so desperate for business.

Actually, the Higgins will probably have their cake and eat it too. The mine will be up and running for about 7 years. If the Higgins negotiated with due diligence, they will get the land back, reclaimed, and ready to plant more trees.
It seems like a win-win, the economy gets about 450 full time jobs( 150 plus spin-offs), the Higgins get real good rental for the land for 7 years, and the government gets tax revenue. Although, I will say, with any luck, the miners will find more veins, which will keep them there longer.
I can't believe that anyone who wants to be taken seriously would compare a third wold mostly failed state like Mali(A coup presently in progress, being led by a military junta) with the environmental and safety regulations we have in NS. Ms. Baxter should have done a regulations comparison before writing this piece, or maybe she did and wrote it anyway, more's the pity.

And I note that they are giving a huge $25 million loan to Cooke to expand their Aquaculture operation in Shelburne - when we are now finding out about just how poorly run and damaging to the environment this company's operations are (see the film Salmon Wars if you don't know why I can say this!).
The NS NDP likes to give money to individual companies and calls that growth (even if they then fail or are environmentally horrible) but isn't kindly disposed to providing infrastructure like a ferry that would benefit hundreds of small businesses....I hope people remember all this come next election...

It is not just the support of a foreign mining company that is a problem. There is also a problem with this government's support of openpen aquaculture, undermining our fishermen and women as well as the environment. And, the government seems content to ignore the greed of Nova Scotia Power with its everincreasing rates.

I voted NDP in the last election. Will think twice before doing so again.

Excellent article. The Higgins family could be any of us. Well, we deserve what we get because we still allow others to swoop into this beautiful province, charge us for our own natural resources, and leave when they are finished. No better than a hostile takeover. There is something very wrong with the way in which our government does business. Vote them out.

Let's see, no to wind farms, even though Nova Scotia has the best wind potential on the eastern seaboard of North America...no to aquaculture, even though Nova Scotia has this massive coastline, tidal flush and close to NA markets, and, now, no to freeing up 3 hectares of land. Oh yes, but pave my highway and keep my hospital open and, oh yeah, pay the interest on the $12 Billion the other parties spent on what????? Can't have it all, folks. just saying.....

It's hard to feel confident about the future when you can lose your land this way. The people living around Lake Ainsley are faced with a big fracking operation in their backyard - all their hard work at building homes and community gone in a puff of smoke with the stroke of the Minister's pen. Do the people of this province who have made an investment in their future count less than corporations? How come real money invested by real people counts less than illusory jobs (backed by government loans, grants, subsidies - i.e. OUR money)?

The voices in this debate are clearly divided between those who believe in the ethics around personal property ownership and civil personal rights versus those who clearly thing it is okay to steal from others as long as a profit is involved.

Capercaille-
Wind farms could be a good thing, if we hard a government that regulated them properly and allowed people to sell the power instead of being forced to buy into the NSP grid - and the best wind potential on the East Coast? You've never been to Cape Cod, then? As for aquaculture - see the film "Salmon Wars" , then you'll understand. They don't build where there is good tidal flush, and they don't rotate their pens (Cooke's this is - some better operations do both). But of course, they can have "crop insurance" and when they have to destroy every fish in Shelburne Harbour that they are raising they get paid for it - and every wild fish anywhere along the coast that comes in contact with these fish, what happens to them? Closed pen, on land aquaculture works and is cost effective (it's being done right here in NS), but the NDP would rather just throw money to Cooke because...??? 3 ha of land isn;t the point - they're doing this to give to a private company. And why isn';t the role of the Provincial Gov't. to pave roads, fix hospitals - you know, infrastructure that would benefit ALL Nova Scotians. Since when did the Provincial Government become a handout to companies outfit with my money???